


the one with the red balloon

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Daisy Is The Only Marvel Superhero, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hints at Daisy's childhood, Make Daisy Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 01:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6591475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Does what it says on the tin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the one with the red balloon

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #makedaisyhappy.

The mission hasn’t gone wrong, but they are so exhausted and just so done with everything that Coulson suggests they go get something to eat before driving home. It’s just the two of them (Mack’s taken a month off for recovery, so Daisy partnered up with Coulson), and it’s not as dark outside yet as you’d expect it to be; spring’s around the corner, and it feels oddly nice to be on the street.

They are walking across a busy square; the cafés have put their tables out onto the sidewalks, people are chatting and smoking and eating, and Daisy is looking so happy with her oversized hotdog that Coulson is finally starting to feel accomplished. Like this is the first thing today that sort of goes _right_.

She wipes some mustard from her face, throws her napkin into a garbage can (Coulson’s finished his food long before she did). She sighs very loudly and contentedly and they briefly smile at each other. It’s not like they really have any energy left for conversation, but this, too, is really nice. 

They have almost reached the spot where they left the SUV when Daisy sees an elderly man selling balloons, and she doesn’t say anything, but he can feel her walk slow down a little. 

“Damnit, I think I might have left my notebook at the hotdog stand.”  
“Do you want me to –“  
“No, it’s okay –,“ he hands her the keys, - “you go ahead and sit in the car, I’ll make it quick.”

He waits for her to turn around, briefly checks whether she’s going to look back or not, then walks back a few steps to look at the balloons.  
When he arrives at the SUV, Daisy is sitting on the hood, facing away from him. She must really be tired, because she doesn’t even turn around when she hears him approach.

He decides to join her and leans against the hood for a moment.   
“Hey,” she offers.  
“Hey.” She can hear the smile in his voice and turns around, freezes.  
For a moment, he doubts himself, thinks he might have offended her or just made the most ridiculous fool of himself, because Daisy is just _staring_ at the perfectly round, deep red helium balloon he’s holding on to. 

Then she just starts crying silently, one single tear after the other, and Coulson just wants to fall off the face of the earth until she hugs him, holds on to him really tight. He doesn’t dare to move or speak, he just puts his arms around her and waits until it’s over.

When she finally ends the hug, she suddenly looks very small, but she’s smiling.   
“It’s my first balloon,” she says, and it breaks his heart.  
He carefully ties the balloon’s string around her wrist, tight enough that it won’t fly away, loose enough that the string won’t bother her. Her eyes immediately follow this gloriously round and bright floating thing, but her hand shyly grabs his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Hope you liked it :)


End file.
